Alumni gather at Nashville event to celebrate Liberty’s history and a vision fulfilled

In the midst of the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting held in Nashville, Tenn., in June, roughly 200 Liberty University alumni joined for a separate reception hosted by the Liberty’s Alumni Relations Office. Alumni heard from familiar voices from the university’s past and present, reunited with former peers, and celebrated the growth the school has experienced since its founding nearly 50 years ago.

The night’s keynote speakers were Jonathan Falwell, son of Liberty founder Dr. Jerry Falwell and senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church who has been named Liberty’s new campus pastor, and Dr. Elmer Towns, who has been a part of Liberty from its inception as its co-founder.

Because the event was held during the SBC event, many of the alumni present were pastors and/or graduates from what is now known as the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity. The school’s residential and online deans, Dr. Troy Temple and Dr. Gabe Etzel, respectively, also spoke.

Giuseppe Cucci, Director of Alumni Relations, said the gathering was a fitting way to reflect on the university’s humble beginnings, sparked by the God-inspired vision of Dr. Falwell.

“What was said that night was that Liberty wanted to reconnect with the alumni, because part of what we’re doing in our office is to link and grow our network that we have,” Cucci said. “On their front as pastors, we wanted to remind them that the school was founded by pastors and the school was built by the graduates who left here and became pastors and really shaped culture that way.”

One such alumnus was Jonathan Bonar (’97, ’08), senior pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Kentucky. Bonar said he originally wasn’t sure if he’d recognize anyone at the event.

“I didn’t think I’d know anybody there, but then it was great because I got to see a lot of people that I went to school with, people I hadn’t seen in a while, and it was wonderful,” Bonar said. “I feel like because my friends that I went to college with are so spread out throughout the country, it’s hard to do more than just social media commenting, so to have an event like this it was great to be face-to-face with a lot of them.”

Cucci said Towns helped to represent the university’s roots for the alumni who took different paths through Liberty’s programs.

“We were very excited having Dr. Towns with us because the alumni who attended were a mix of residential and online graduates, so they all got to have that history of the school represented with him there,” Cucci said. “We really enjoyed him being there because you can’t talk about Liberty without thinking of Dr. Falwell and Dr. Towns.”

Bonar said he was encouraged by the event after being away from Liberty’s campus for so long.

“I was able to get reconnected with not only the people but also the vision of Dr. Falwell and the school of changing the world and raising young Champions for Christ. I loved being reminded of that vision again and feeling a part of something bigger than myself.”

As always, an event like this allowed for those in attendance to cross paths with former classmates, share memories about the school and its campus, and commemorate what will be Liberty’s 50th anniversary this fall.

“Being back with your peers is one thing that makes these events great, but really reminiscing about the past is such a positive thing,” Cucci said. “These alumni get back together and they start swapping stories, they start talking about the old days, they talk about the current days, and it’s fun to have that interaction. Most of the time, we don’t get to see them for very long, so when we can go to them where they’re at, as opposed to them coming to us, it’s something special in that respect.”

With the 50th anniversary celebrations fast approaching at the start of the fall semester, Cucci encouraged alumni to stay tuned in to the Liberty alumni social media pages (Facebook and Twitter) and make sure their contact information is up to date so they can be informed of upcoming events. He said the Alumni Relations Office plans on hosting a reception again next year to coincide with the SBC Annual Meeting and looks forward to more events that will continue to bring Liberty’s graduates back to engage with their alma mater, including the Oct. 8-9 Homecoming Weekend.

For more information, visit Liberty.edu/Alumni, call (800) 628-7973, or email alumni@liberty.edu.